


Take me back to the start

by cosmicjoke



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Canon Timeline, Childhood Memories, Lena Luthor deserves to be happy, Video Tapes, and i'll make it happen, i just have feelings about Lena and Lex ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 10:48:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17445467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicjoke/pseuds/cosmicjoke
Summary: They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so imagine how many is a video tape worth. These are a few but important moments of Lena Luthor's life captured on camera.





	Take me back to the start

**Author's Note:**

> You know those scenes sometimes we form in our head but hold no place in any specific story? Well, I thought “what could possibly translate as a small moment in our lives that holds little to no connection to anything but can still mean a lot?” and the answer was a video tape! So, basically, that’s what this is: little moments that mean a lot.
> 
> The timeline i used follows the one on the show (season 2 ep 12), so Lena was adopted at age 4 in 1997 and was around 13 when Lex was arrested in 2006 (season 3 ep 06), and i'm using a personal headcannon for Lex since they didn't specificity his age, so he’s 13 when Lena arrives.
> 
>  
> 
> Enjoy!

***

**_1999_ **

The camera cackles and shows a slightly blurry face of a curly haired boy. The boy fidgets with the camera until it focuses on the boy, showing his green eyes and excited smile up close, and behind him it’s what looks like a spacious garage, with grey tall walls.

“You okay there, little sis? You ready?” the boy asks to the person holding the camera with a gentle voice.

“I’m ready, Lex.” Answers a childish voice that most likely belongs to a girl.

“Okay, let’s start!”

Waving at the camera, Lex walks up a counter filled with mechanic parts and tools, a metal structure no much bigger than a dinner plate sits in the middle of it.

 "I’m Lex Luthor and my sister, Lena, is the one behind the camera, today is June 20th, 1999 and we’ll be recording the trials of the generator we’ve been building during the summer. We’ve already tried to make it work a few times, but none were successful. Dad gave me this camera on the begging of summer and I’ve decided to record our trials and progress as an attempt to see where the problem is. So, let's begin." He says to the camera. After Lex pushes a few buttons on the machine, a loud humming can be heard. The boy looks expectantly to the motor on the counter, seeing the engine rotate inside the machine with crescent speed.

“It’s working, Lex!” Lena says, making the camera swing a little in her excitement.

The older boy grins at her only to frown when a few moments later a very loud boom resonates in the room and the generator starts smoking. The little girl gasps in fear and Lex grabs the fire extinguisher in a hurry and fires it at the machine after shutting it down.

Coughing a little, the boy grumbles and starts fussing with the machinery before getting impatient and walking up to Lena to shut down the camera. ***

**_2001_ **

Another cackle and a eighteen years old Lex Luthor can be seen on the screen. Hair in disarray and shirtless, Lex is clearly laying on the ground of an outside area. He smiles at the camera, eyes shaded by sunglasses.

"Summer's finally here and we're going to enjoy it, right Lee?" He says, turning on his belly and shifting the camera to focus on the dark-haired girl, now not older than eight, in a purple swimsuit, laying on her belly on a grey pool float into the crystal blue water. Lena laughs, the missing tooth on full display, and nods profusely with her head.

"What's the first thing you wanna do?" Lex asks from behind the camera.

"I want to build a robot!" Lee answers with much enthusiasm, swinging her feet in the air.

"Yes!" He laughs along. "We're going to build the most awesome robot ever seen. He'll walk and even dance!" He promises "But tonight, oh tonight we're going to the carnival!"

The little girl's jaw drops. "We are?!" She asks baffled. "But mom said no when i asked..."

"Well, _I_ 'll ask and she'll say yes, and we're going to have a lot of fun and eat a lot of candy. Does that sound good?"

"Absolutely!" Lena perks up so fast that she loses balance and falls into the pool.

Lex laughs hard so hard that he falls onto his back, pointing the camera at the clear summer sky before ending the recording.

***

**_2003_ **

The next tape is focused on a very spacious room with cream colored walls and clearly expensive furniture. A piano can be seen in the middle of it while Lena plays beautifully Chopin's Nocturne OP. 9: Nº 2. Lex slowly approaches the piano, coming to stand in front of it.

Lena is smiling softly, absorbed by the melody. Is clear that she's playing from the heart. Her eyes leave the board to look that the person behind the camera and her smile broadens before turning back to the keys. The song comes to an end and the camera is set on top of the piano so the person behind it can applaud quietly. Lena blushes a little but smiles wide.

"You shouldn't applaud that, Lex." A cold voice that clearly belongs to a woman says outside the camera’s range. "It was not even near good enough. It was..." But the recording is cut before the woman can say another word.

When the tape resumes, the camera focused back on the dark-haired girl, still at the piano, but this time with Lex sitting by her side. He has a beard now, and the boyishness was gone, but that did nothing to hide the affection behind his eyes or the softness of the smile directed at his sister.  Lena's eyes were still a little red from crying but held no tears anymore.

They played Clair de la lune together in perfect harmony. When the song finishes, Lex puts a comforting hand in Lena’s shoulder before turning the camera off.

***

**_2005_ **

The recording shows long muscular legs in the sand before it lifts up to show two people chasing each other on the beach. One of them is a twelve years old Lena in a two-piece green bikini, and the other a twenty-something Lex in black swim shorts waving a book above his head. They laugh loudly.

"You should give up now, little sis. You're never gonna catch me!" He says sidestepping the girl and running to the other side. “Your legs are too short.”

Lena gasps feigning offense "That's what we'll see!" She answers, smirking mischievously.

"Clark, are you just going to sit there? Help me! I thought you were my friend!" Lex pleads, still running.

"You should just let her read, Lex." Clark chuckles from behind the camera.

"No! Normal teenage girls don't spend their summers at the beach reading, they play and flirt with boys." He stops and turns to Lena, pointing the book at her. "Not that I want you flirting with any deceiving boys, am I clear?" He says with faux severity.

"I'm not going to flirt with any boys!" Lena takes advantage of her brother distraction snatches the book out of his hands. "It's not like I'm interested in them anyway." She mumbles and walks back to her chair to resume the reading of her book.

Clark laughs at the siblings’ antic and stops recording.

 

***

**_2006_ **

The revolt sea is the only thing in frame this time. The blue skies are now grey and heavy with soon to come rain, a thunder rumbles in the distance over the seagulls’ cries. The waves break with force on the sand banks making a loud noise of fury. The image trembles a little as shaking hands hold the camera and a quiet sniff is heard, followed by a louder sob.

"I wish you were here." A thirteen years old Lena says before lowering the lens to her feet and ending the recording.

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter is Lena Luthor as an adult and some supercorp!   
> Please leave a comment or just hmu at @cosmicjoke42 on tumblr.


End file.
